Sports
Golf

London Hunt and Country Club golf pro Tim McKeiver puts on a temporary green while the real green behind him recovers from the unusually cold winter and spring in London, Ont. on Monday May 5, 2014.DEREK RUTTAN/The London Free Press/QMI Agency

The wet, cold spring — after the worst winter in decades — is hammering golf courses in Southwestern Ontario with “millions” of dollars in lost business, industry officials say.

Conditions are so bad, full openings at some private courses could be pushed back as much as two months from their usual spring openings, they say.

“There is a lot of damage out there,” said Tim Webb, golf course superintendent at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club in London.

“It’s an expensive ordeal,” he said. “The last time this happened was 40 years ago, in 1974, we had a similar winter. I have been here 28 years and I have never seen damage like this.”

The problem is the greens — those smooth carpets of grass where rounds are won or lost in the putting game. They’re made up of a type of grass, called poa annua, and it’s fragile and not bouncing back easily from the brutal winter.

The London Hunt and Country Club was one of the hardest-hit courses and now has temporary greens cut into its fairways until the real things come back.

“We are behind,” said Jon Nusink, general manager at the Hunt Club.

“Three years ago we opened at the end of March. That means golfers are not coming out or eating and drinking as much. That’s extra revenue we get every year,” he said. “We have never seen it like this. No one has seen it like this.”

Usually fully open in April, some private courses may not have all their holes ready this season until the end of May.

The pain is widespread in southern Ontario, with some Toronto courses reporting they won’t open this summer.

“There is no (grass) growth — nothing is happening,” said Webb. “The soil is still cold and there is no seed germination. If you walk on it, you will kill it.”

Soils need to rise to about 15C, up from about 8C now, to trigger serious growth, Webb said.

The cold nights — they fell to sub-zero levels recently — has kept the grass frigid.

“Everyone is hurting — this has cost courses across Southwest Ontario millions of dollars in lost business,” said Webb. “We are a good three weeks behind and only half of (Sunningdale’s 36 holes) are open.”

The older the course, the more poa grass it has and the harder it was hit. Even courses with bent grass have poa on their greens, since that grass grows naturally.

“I talked to one member who said he has played twice this year, and last year at this time he played about 20 times,” said Webb.

“It goes hand in hand: If you are not getting members out ,they are not using the facilities.”

The solution has been to heavily overseed greens with bent grass, said Nusink.

The good news?

A few weeks of warm weather and the greens will be back, said Webb. Sunningdale’s remaining 18 holes could open at the end of May or early June, he added.

“You can’t walk on (the grass). It will kill it. That is why so many courses now have temporary greens.”

- - -

HOW COLD?

This year vs. historic average

January: — 9.5C; — 5.6C

February: — 10.6C; — 4.5C

March: — 5.4C; — 01.C

April: — 6.3C; — 6.8C

SNOWFALL

This year vs. historic average

January: 75 cm; 49.3 cm

February: 54.5 cm; 38.4 cm

March: 27 cm; 29.4 cm

April: (rain and snow): 76.2 mm; 83.4 mm

- - -

GOLF GRASS 101

Poa annua: Grows naturally in Southwestern Ontario, found on most greens. Delicate, it’s having a tough time bouncing back from the harsh winter.